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ADDRESSES 



OF 



REV. S. L. GRAHAM, D.D., 



AND OF 



REV. F. S. SAMPSON, D.D., 



AT THEIR 



INAUGURATION, JULY 11, 1850, 

THE FORMER AS PROFESSOR OF ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY, THE 
LATTER AS PROFESSOR OF ORIENTAL LITERATURE, 



UNION THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, 



PRINCE EDWARD COUNTY, VA. 



PUBLISHED BY DIRECTION OF THE BOARD. 



^ NEW-YORK: 

ROBERT CARTER & BROTHERS, 

NO. 285 BROADWAY. 

M.D.CCC.L. 







Printed "by Edward O. Jenkins, 
No. 114 Nassau Street. 



ADDRESS OF DR. GRAHAM. 



A Discourse, delivered June 11th, 1850, on the occasion of his inauguration as Pro- 
fessor of Ecclesiastical History and Polity in Union Theological Seminary, Prince 
Edward County, Virginia, hy S. L. Graham, D.D. 

By an order of the Board of Directors, I am required this 
day to deliver a discourse on History. Though the resolu- 
tion does not give the purpose for which this exercise is re- 
quired, yet it may be safely inferred to have been to express 
their conviction that this branch of study ought to be ele- 
vated to a place of dignity and importance which it has not 
heretofore occupied in this institution, as well as to ascertain 
in what manner it is to be taught. As these are praise- 
worthy and laudable objects, I cheerfully accept your ap- 
pointment, and now proceed to address myself to the fulfil- 
ment of it. 

In some minds there is a conviction that the study of 
history is light and easy, requiring the exercise of no faculty, 
except memory. No mistake can be greater. The evidence 
by which a historical fact is established, often requires most 
laborious research to ascertain it, and great soundness of 
judgment to judge of that evidence after it is ascertained. 
All party spirit must be renounced, and evidence must be 
regarded purely on its own merits. This is no easy attain- 
ment. The prejudices, generated for example by the great 
controversy which agitated and divided England in the 
seventeenth century, have been transmitted to our day ; and 
men can now be found who are as ardent haters of Cromwell 



and the Puritans, as were the partisans of . the arbitrary 
and tyrannical Stuarts ; nor need it be disguised that there is 
still also a spirit of indiscriminate justification of the errors 
and the wrongs of those Puritans who overthrew the English 
throne, and so changed the English constitution, as to check 
the absolute prerogative of the sovereign, and to secure the 
rights of the subject. The same remark may be made in 
reference to many other controversies. There are no subjects, 
however, on which we are required to sift evidence with 
greater care, than on those which relate to the controversies 
between Catholics and Protestants. The facts in reference 
to past controversies are so startling and astounding, and are 
so entirely in conflict with our American ideas of liberty and 
humanity, and scriptural truth, that we naturally require 
the most unquestionable evidence of their truth, before we 
receive them. For example, it would not be safe to assert 
that it is a doctrine of the Catholic communion that no 
faith ought to be kept with heretics ; for the council of Con- 
stance, the first and last that so decided, is wholly rejeoted 
by some Catholics, and is received as a general council only 
in its last sessions by others. The best authorities, as Bellar- 
mine and others, only allow it a partial authority ; and it 
is doubtful whether this obnoxious decree was enacted 
before or after it was acknowledged to be a general council. 
History can give many examples, before and after the 
council of Constance, in which faith was not kept with 
heretics ; but it must be acknowledged that protestants have 
not always been remarkable for keeping the faith of treaties 
and fulfilling promises. 

The knowledge of languages is necessary to the successful 
study of history. Many of the controversies of the church 
owe their origin, in the first instance, to the unfortunate 



s 

and imprudent use of new towns. Thus, the Nestorian con- 
troversy may be regarded as still a difficult question, on 
account of the ambiguity of the language used on the occa- 
sion. That the ambitious Cyril, under the influence of the 
passionate excitement by which he seems to have been gov- 
erned, did injustice to his opponent, is now generally admit- 
ted ; and after the lapse of fourteen hundred years, tardy 
justice has been done to a persecuted man; and, though 
condemned by a council, it is probable that Nestorius was 
only liable to censure on account of the novel and unauthor- 
ized phraseology he used in reference to Jesus Christ, and on 
account of the needless obstinacy with which he persisted in 
the use of language which gave offence, and which was, to 
say the least, ambiguous. Indeed, a critical knowledge of 
language is necessary, to enable- one to understand the early 
controversies of the church. And no language will be more 
necessary in this respect than the Greek, as it is well known 
that the activity and acuteness of the Cfreek mind, and the 
disputatious and confident spirit produced by the Greek 
philosophy, originated nearly all of the doctrinal controver- 
sies of the early ages of Christianity ; while the Latin mind 
slept on in its lethargic slumber, or only awaked to smile at 
the combatants, or to decide on a subject which was imper- 
fectly understood. 

The plan of this seminary declares, that the object to be 
attained in this department of study is the " history of 
theological doctrine, and its influence on religion, morals, 
literature, and civil and religious liberty, from the Christian 
era to the present time." This simple statement presents a 
most comprehensive view of the subject, and owes its origin 
to that great and good man whose likeness adorns our 
chapel, and whose profound and philosophical mind caught 



6 

the true and only rational view of church history. I allude to 
Dr. John Holt Rice, who, if any man can lay claim to that 
honor, was the founder of this institution. Can the end 
here sketched out be attained ? If it can, then history will 
become truly a science, and a school in which we may learn 
the most important lessons of wisdom. But it cannot be 
done in a day. It must be the result of long and patient 
investigation. The way will be weary ; but if the end can 
be gained, the fruit will be worthy of all the toil. Let us 
inquire whether the end proposed can be accomplished. We 
understand it to be what is known as the philosophy of 
history. The object of it is, to trace effects up to their 
causes ; to generalize the facts of history, and to draw from 
them those just conclusions which a sound philosophy 
teaches us are to be derived from them. It assumes that 
Grod governs the world, so as to accomplish a wise and 
benevolent purpose ; and that history is one of the schools 
in which he designs that we shall learn wisdom ; that if 
Grod is in history, there must be some great problems worked 
out for man's benefit. In the past, experiments have been 
made, as to what man can do, — as to the tendencies of his 
nature, — as to the effect of certain principles on his moral 
conduct and his .happiness ; and it is the duty of the his- 
torian to gather up these facts, to arrange and classify them, 
and, as far as the nature of the subject will admit of it, 
apply the principles of the inductive philosophy, and to draw 
just conclusions from them. It is true, that in this case, it 
is not man himself, performing his experiments on dead 
matter, for his own benefit and improvement, and that of 
others ; but man makes the experiment as man, endowed 
with a complex nature, with body and soul, the subject of 
moral government, a member of the social compact, and the 



recipient of religious impressions to an almost unlimited 
extent, and from a great variety of means and instrumen- 
talities. The operation of these different causes on man's 
intellectual, moral, and social nature produces results very- 
various ; still there is a unity which may be reached on this 
subject as well as others. We may ascertain what causes 
have been at work, and what effects have been produced in 
a given case, with a probability so strong as to reach almost 
to certainty. And when the mind has, on solid reasons, 
arrived at some general result of this kind, something valu- 
able is certainly gained. History is not to be regarded as 
a mere chaos of facts, without order and without object. — 
It is not intended to be a mere plaything for the pedant, that 
he may signalize the accuracy of his memory, by detailing 
the minutest facts, and the day and month and year in 
which they occurred. If this be all, we may well despise 
history, as only ministering to human vanity and ambition. 
On the contrary, nature herself has taught us order. The 
water is separated from earth, and air from both, and all the 
agents in nature operate with a system and regularity 
known only to the man of science. And everything in the 
animal world stands out before us already classified. And 
why should there not be a classification of the facts of 
history ? We may distinguish between the causes which 
produce a system of error, and the moral effects of that 
system itself. The effect produced will be like the cause, it is 
true ; but still that may not exhibit the whole effect in the 
case. If idolatry depend for its origin and its continuance 
on an appeal to the imagination and to the senses, as the 
principal special causes which produce it, we may safely 
conclude that, as the theory of its origin leaves man's con- 
science and his moral nature untouched, the effect will be, 



8 

not in his moral constitution, but on his imagination and 
senses. But still we must look deeper into the subject, if 
we wish fully to understand its influence on morals. And 
if we always find connected with it an extravagant influ- 
ence ascribed to mere external acts, and if the painting or 
the sculpture can itself convey no idea as to the spiritual 
qualities of the object worshipped, at least in ordinary 
cases, we may conclude that the condition of men will not 
be improved by such a system. 

In conducting these inquiries, however, there are certain 
extremes to be avoided ; and the same radical error lies at 
the bottom of them all, at least so far as church history is 
concerned. There is one class who hold to a gradual de- 
velopment of Christian truth ; that if the religious affections 
are right,- they will lead to results in Christian doctrine and 
in church polity, which are not to be found in the primitive 
church, and which are nevertheless agreeable to the will of 
God. This whole system of the mysteries, with all others 
analogous to it, is to be rejected, because it does not ac- 
knowledge the absolute perfection and sufficiency of the 
inspired volume. Another extreme is that which leads men 
to look with reverence on the opinions and interpretations of 
the uninspired doctors of the church, as authoritatively 
settling vital questions. To this appeal to tradition, the 
same objection may be made ; the inspired word of truth, 
alone, has authority in matters of controversy. We will 
never consent to take as our standard the opinions of the 
teachers of the church, in any century, since the Apostles' 
days. This would indeed fix at once in stereotype all the 
opinions and rites and customs of the church ; and not only 
so, but the very process of argument by which opinions and 
interpretations are established. This is a Procrustean bed 



on which we beg to be excused from lying. This is the 
gieat error of the Catholic, the effect cf which is mental 
servility, and the romoval of all stimulus to an intelligent 
and profitable study of history. To accomplish that which 
seems to have been in the mind of the Directors, when the 
plan of this Seminary was adopted, it is necessary that the 
adaptation of systems of doctrine to produce certain effects, 
should be proved ; and then, that these results have always 
occurred in point of fact, must be proved from history. 

In regard to the first, it must be made to appear that the 
effect ascribed to a given cause or combination of causes is 
not an incident, but that it flows naturally from it, as a stream 
from a fountain ; that there is a peculiar adaptation in the 
doctrine or system of doctrine to produce the effect indicated , 
and that it is adapted to produce no other. 

As to the second, the historical deductions must be made 
with great caution, and the student of history should be care- 
ful that he does not mistake his own prejudices for historical 
facts, a very common occurrence ; or at least that his party 
feelings and his want of candor have not given a coloring to 
facts inconsistent with truth. The connection between the 
doctrine and the effect ascribed to it ought to be real, not im- 
aginary. The different results at which we arrive by this 
process may be attended with various degrees of probability, 
In some cases the highest, and in others the lowest, degrees 
of probability will be reached. But this is only what occurs 
on every other subject of human investigation : in criticism, 
interpretation, metaphysics, and in morals, the mind is con- 
scious of different degrees of conviction, the result either of 
its own weakness, or of a want of a clear and full exhibition 
of light and evidence. We propose now to give an illustration 
of what we have thus far attempted to explain and confirm. 



10 

We will- suppose the object to be, to show the influence of 
some system of theological doctrine on civil and religious lib- 
erty, and that the system of the Puritans and of the Cathdics 
is selected, the one as a specimen, of a favorable, and the 
other as a specimen of an unfavorable, influence on human 
freedom. We will assume that the statements found in the 
ordinary histories on the subject we propose to discuss are 
true ; and we presume that, if they are denied, they can be 
proved by the most unquestionable authority. But we do 
not wish to perplex ourselves or our audience with any such 
questions to-day. We intend to make our statements as fair 
as possible. • 

The first thing to be done is, to inquire into the nature of 
the doctrines taught by the respective parties in this case. 
The Puritans held to the right of private judgment, the right 
to examine for themselves, and decide on their own creed. 
They held that every man was personally responsible to Grod 
for not finding his own rule of faith in the Bible. They also 
held to the right of all the members of the community to think 
for themselves on all subjects, a right to which the meanest 
had an equal claim with the highest. Thus they formed the 
habit of mental independence, in opposition to that servility 
and mental dependence, on the other hand, of which we shall 
speak presently. The Puritans also were ardent patrons of 
learning, and of the general diffusion of knowledge ; and thus 
they endeavored to educate the public mind to think and act 
for itself. In all the religious communities they organized, 
they gave the people a share in the government of the church. 
Nothing could be lawfully done, unless the people were pres- 
ent themselves, or by their representatives. Thus they taught, 
in the clearest manner, the representative principle, which is 
the basis of all free government. They also taught that all 



- 11 

the ministers had equal rights, as well as that all the people 
had a voice in their religious assemblies. They repudiated 
that system which disfranchised the people, and elevated the 
clergy to principalities, temporal or spiritual, and made the 
bishop a little monarch over his brethren, and erected a 
throne higher than the rest for him who claimed, universal 
jurisdiction over the church. But, above all, the Puritans 
laid the foundation of their principles in the holy Scriptures. 
No one thing was more remarkable in their history than this 
reverence for Grod's word. Here they were taught to value 
justice between man and man, and to hate and punish oppres- 
sion and violence. They studied the civil code of Moses, of 
which Grod was the author, and in which strict and equal jus- 
tice in our intercourse with our fellow-men is always en- 
joined. Some of them may have misunderstood and misap- 
plied some portion of the Old Testament, especially the his- 
torical parts ; but we now speak of the main body of this most 
wonderful race of men. No book ever written more clearly 
defines right and wrong than the Bible ; nor is any book to be 
found anywhere, in which the principles of human liberty are 
more clearly taught. This was the great statute-book of the 
Puritans, and they were as deeply imbued with its spirit as 
any people that ever lived. Time will not permit us to en- 
large on this subject. 

We now proceed to inquire, whether history confirms the 
views which we have just expressed. From the days of 
Queen Elizabeth the Puritans resisted the arbitrary acts of the 
sovereign, and the violent encroachments on the rights of the 
subject. Against the Star Chamber and High Commission 
they earnestly remonstrated, as a stretch of the royal preroga- 
tive, not warranted by the English constitution. When the 
Stuart family attempted to make the English government an 



12 

absolute monarchy, and to dispense with parliaments, and 
even with the laws of the land, except such as they might 
approve ; when they imprisoned and condemned freemen with- 
out due process of law ; when they resorted to forced loans 
and benevolences, and, in fact, undertook to tax the subject 
without consent of their representatives ; foremost in the op- 
position to such high-handed measures were found the Puri- 
tan leaders. Thus did this body of men, for near one hundred 
years, steadfastly resist and oppose the tyrannical measures 
of the Court, until at last a revolution, more permanent and 
beneficial in its effects than any ever effected in Grreat Britain 
since the days of Alfred the Grreat, was effected by the acces- 
sion of William and Mary to the throne. The Puritans fought 
the battle for freedom during the long Parliament, during the 
days of Cromwell, and during the days of the licentious 
Charles II. The age of Cromwell is an era in English his- 
tory. Never before did more able judges sit in the courts, nor 
was justice ever more impartially administered. Commerce 
with, foreign countries flourished, and the English navy began 
to win those laurels which have since made her the mistress 
of the seas. In New England as well as old England, the 
Puritan character has shown itself to be deeply hostile to 
tyrants and tyranny. The only objection worthy of serious 
notice to these conclusions and statements is, that some of 
the Puritans were intolerant. The fact cannot be denied. It 
was, however, the error of the age in which they lived. They 
were the first in England to work out the problem as to reli- 
gious toleration, and the first to act on it ; they have perse ver- 
ingly adhered to it ever since. 

We next proceed to show, that the Catholic system is not 
favorable to liberty. The exact opposite to this has been in- 
geniously and perseveringly maintained by one of the ablest 



13 

and most eloquent of the Roman Catholic bishops of this 
country ; and it is maintained by thousands of others.* The 
infallibility of the pope establishes. the most despotic monarchy 
in the world ; for he speaks as God to men, and claims to be 
the vicegerent of heaven. The divine right of kings, and the 
legal fiction that the king can do no wrong, do not establish 
such an unlimited authority ; for the persons who admit these 
principles hold that a wrong may be done by the sovereign, 
though his official advisers are held responsible for it. But 
the claims of the pope are equal to a plenary inspiration. If 
it is believed that the infallibility in question is found in a 
general council, it is known that no such council has been 
held for three hundred years, even on the broadest theory of 
such councils. The clergy have usurped all the authority in 
the Catholic communion ; and no layman ever lifts his voice 
in any ecclesiastical court. And when appeals are made, 
they are not from one or two to many, so as to bring the col- 
lected wisdom of the whole body to bear on a difficult case, 
but they are from many to one. The church rulers, too, are 
a separate class, unconnected with the masses around them, 
by the ties of sympathy or interest ; but they are connected 
with the Bishop of Rome by the strongest motives of self- 
interest, and by the vows of canonical obedience. When we 
consider human nature as it is, we might well think it strange 
if they were not inflated to the point of insolence by their 
overgrown and absolute authority ; by the power they are sup" 
posed to possess of converting the bread and wine into the 
real body of Christ ; by their pretended priestly absolution, 
and by the Opus operatum that accompanies all their official 
acts. And then the whole Catholic system is pre-eminently 
• 

* Bishop Hughes. 



14 

one of authority. No opinion, rite, or ceremony of the church 
is to be called into question. * Submission to all acts, however 
oppressive, is required, under the pretence that the canon law 
so requires, or that the practice is justified by prescription, or 
by an infallible pope. Besides, the key that unlocks the trea- 
sures of knowledge is taken away from the people, and annu- 
ally there is published, under the sanction of the pope, a cata- 
logue of prohibited books, in which are included scientific 
works, if a Protestant is the author of them. It is no part of 
the principles of Catholicism that the schoolmaster should be 
abroad in the land ; and he is not abroad in Catholic countries. 
But, above all, the Bible is to the Catholic virtually a prohibited 
book, even in the unfaithful translation of a translation, itself 
in many points erroneous.* In short, the whole system is 
one of absolute mental servility on the part of the people ; and 
it uniformly checks and destroys mental independence. 

We now proceed to inquire what have been the teachings 
of history on this subject. In the .eighth century the popes 
became temporal princes in Italy, and for eleven centuries the 
region about Rome has acknowledged their spiritual and tem- 
poral authority. And what have been the results ? During 
all this long period religious intolerance has prevailed, and for 
the greater part of it the tribunal of the inquisition has been 
used to stop the mouths of heretics ; and the number of its 
victims, and the cruelties and deeds of darkness practised in 
its dungeons and rooms of torture, none can tell until the great, 
day shall reveal it. And what has Italy become under the 
domination of the priesthood ? The land of the Catos, Cice- 
ros, Scipios and Csesars of other days is now a land of mu- 
sicians,, painters and sculptors, a land of monks and priests, 

• 
* The Catholic translations are from the Vulgate. 



15 

barefooted, squalid, lazy, ignorant, and vicious; a land of 
robbers and assassins, of ragged lazaroni, of thriftlessness and 
indolence, in which the project to make a railroad is esteemed 
a crime against the state, which merits a thundering bull from 
the successor of St. Peter ; a land in which to preach a prot- 
estant sermon, or to distribute a protestant translation of the 
Bible, would be esteemed a crime equal to murder or grand 
larceny. And yet this is the country in which were built, by 
their pagan ancestors, the Appian Way, called the Queen of 
Roads, and others, as costly as the pavements in our cities, 
from the capital to various parts of the empire, at a distance 
of several hundred miles : the Coliseum, the amphitheatres, 
the obelisks now found, show to the sad and curious traveler, 
that Rome, as it now is, is only the tomb of its -own former 
greatness ; and that to degrade herself as she has done, by 
her attention to frivolous and childish superstition, it was 
necessary that she should unlearn all her former grandeur and 
greatness ; that she should renounce and nullify the best civil 
code, and the purest civil government to be found on earth. 
Rome is no longer the land of heroes, of statesmen and ora- 
tors ; it is no longer a land of equal laws. Some have 
attempted to prove that the population of the single city of 
Rome, in the day of her ancient glory, equalled that of the 
whole of Italy at the present day. From the age of Leo the 
Great, at the middle of the fifth century, the popes of Rome 
aimed to establish a universal spiritual despotism over the 
whole of Christendom ; and when this end seemed to be ac- 
plished, at least as far as the west was concerned, then, from 
the period of Gregory VII., 1073, to the Reformation, they 
strove unceasingly to build up their authority over temporal 
sovereigns, and they gave away crowns and kingdoms to 
whomsoever they wished. It was a pope of Rome (Innocent 



16 

III.) who deposed king John, and who annulled the great 
charter which contains the germ of English freedom, and ex- 
communicated the barons who drew it up and required the 
sovereign to sign it. 

It is known that the advisers of the most arbitrary measures 
of European sovereigns have been the Catholic priests, who 
have gotten the ear of the monarch, and have become the 
keepers of his conscience. The reign of -the bloody Mary may 
safely be contrasted with that of her sister, or of any protest- 
ant king or queen of England. In France, infidelity itself re- 
moved from the statute-book the laws proscribing and perse- 
cuting the Protestants. Thus we think we have made it 
evident, that the tendencies of Romanism are not in the direc- 
tion of human freedom. We will not deny that there may be 
exceptions, as to the operation of the principles we have men- 
tioned, in both the classes described. We have only acomod 
to generalize. Nor would we deny that there are others, be- 
sides the Puritans, who have exerted a happy influence in 
favor of civil and religious liberty. This we would most 
willingly admit, or rather most earnestly maintain. The 
principle which lies at the basis of a profitable study of church 
history might be further illustrated, by a reference -to the 
Oriental philosophy, to Arianism, to the rise, tendencies, and 
effects of monasticism. For example, it might be proved that 
there was a tendency to the ascetic life, especially in the East, 
previous to the advent of Christ, and after his advent, inde- 
pendent of the teachings of Christianity ; that it appeared 
among the Jews in the Therapeutse and Essenes ; among the 
pagans in the celibacy practised in some instances by the 
priests, and from the fact that many of them professed to lead 
a contemplative and ascetic life. The philosophy of that age, 
too, led to asceticism. The tendencies of gnosticism are 



17 

known to all ; nor is it less obvious that a similar tendency 
was found in the Cynics, and other sects of philosophers. 
The opposition between paganism and Christianity led some 
minds to the unsocial extreme of monasticism ; nor were per- 
secutions, and the contempt in which Christians were held in 
early ages, without their influence. The laxity of morals 
among professed Christians may have had an indirect influ- 
ence in stimulating some, whose minds were misled by these 
erroneous pre-existing views of religion, to retire from human 
society, that they might attain to a higher standard of piety 
than seemed to them attainable amidst the temptations and 
pollutions of the populous cities. 

As to the effects of this system, we might show that, in its 
earliest development, when the views of the anchorets pre- 
vailed, its tendency was to inhumanize men, to lead to men- 
tal-derangement and suicide, many examples of which could 
be produced from history ; and that after men, who professed 
to renounce the world, lived not in solitary cells, but in soci- 
eties regulated by rules, it tended to lower the standard of 
morals and religion among the people, by exhibiting what 
professed to be a higher spirituality than that attainable by the 
mass of Christians ; that it led to, if it did not originate from, 
ideas of human merit ; that it placed true piety in the sensu- 
ous and external, instead of placing it in the spiritual and 
internal ; that a religion, which consisted so much in absti- 
nence, fasting, vigils, and bodily inflictions, must, in the end, 
degrade Christianity from its high position, as a religion 
intended to govern the inner man, and outer man through the 
inner. We might also show that it fostered hypocrisy, and 
contributed its full share in separating a class of men from 
their relations to and sympathy with society around them, 
and to create a caste in religion ; and that men would at last 
2 



18 

break away from all rules, and become licentious and indo- 
lent ; and finally, that it cherished self-righteousness and 
spiritual pride. The system is therefore unfavorable to spir- 
itual piety and to good morals. The question will most natu- 
rally arise here, " Whether anything has been done in this 
department of history which the plan of our seminary makes 
it the duty of the professor to occupy ?" We answer, that in 
civil history much has been done. Schlegel, Hallam, Gruizot, 
Arnold, and Smith, have all done something to throw light on 
this aspect of history ; and it is remarkable, that four of the 
five books just mentioned formed originally a course of public 
lectures ; one delivered in Germany, another in the University 
of Paris, a third in the University of Oxford, and the last in 
the University of Cambridge. History is now studied with 
an ardor which has no parallel in past ages ; and in our own 
country it is receiving increasing attention in our literary in- 
stitutions. For the department of ecclesiastical history not 
so much has as yet been done as for civil history. 

For eighteen hundred years Christianity has exerted great 
influence on the state ; it has formed the public morals ; it 
has controlled the education of the European world ; it has 
often been brought into conflict with false theories of morals, 
and has been persecuted by the state : and on all these ac- 
counts it has attracted the notice of the historians of the na- 
tions. It may therefore be expected, that in the general 
histories, and especially in the scholastic works on history 
lately issued from the press, something valuable to the student 
of church history will be found. Accordingly, all the books 
which we have mentioned may be read with profit. Some of 
them discuss questions of this nature with great ability. 

But this field has not been left without cultivation by those 
who have professed to write on the history of the church. 



19 

We say nothing of those who have treated , in an able and in- 
structive manner, certain portions of history, such as the flru- 
sades, and the rise of popery, together with its grand results. 
There is scarcely a valuable history of the church which does 
not more or less discuss some of the questions which appear 
to have been contemplated in the plan of this institution. In 
Robertson's history of Charles V. there are many acute and 
philosophical remarks, which show a mind awake to the true 
object of history. G-ieseler's Text-Book of Ecclesiastical His- 
tory proves that the author is a profound scholar, and capable 
of taking an instructive view of history ; but his work is very 
concise, and he has allowed himself little time for discussing, 
in an interesting manner, many questions, for the discussion 
of which he is well qualified. Indeed, his aim seems to have 
been, to give the results of his own investigations, rather than 
the process by which he arrived at them. But, of all the 
church histories of modern times, Neander's, now in a course 
of publication, is most thoroughly imbued with a philosophical 
spirit. With learning and scholarship of the highest order, he 
unites logical acumen, and sound judgment, and earnest 
piety. Still, we need a work which will embody the results 
of investigation on this subject ; a work which supposes the 
student to be possessed of the facts of history, but which rea- 
sons from them, and about them, in such a manner as shall 
be instructive. The German stand-point is one thing, and 
the American is another. There are some discussions suited 
to the aspect of things in Europe, and some to the aspect of 
things in this country. It is a desideratum, then, that the 
results of past investigation should be embodied in some con- 
venient form ; and that what Guizot, and Arnold, and Smyth 
have attempted to do for civil history, should be done for 
church history. Thus have we endeavored to give our views, 



20 

and what has seemed to us the views of those who originated 
anfl govern this institution, on the important subject of 
church history. Whether we have succeeded or not, it is for 
others to judge ; but if any one can show us a better way, or 
throw light on this subject, we hope we shall thankfully re- 
ceive his aid, and profit by his instructions. 



ADDRESS OF DR. SAMPSON. 



Respected Fathers and Brethren, and Auditors generally.— 

The great enemy of truth, of Christ, and of souls, has 
long been at work. His hate and his skill have only in- 
creased with his age and experience. 

When Christianity was first set up, Satan held the world 
fast bound in paganism. It had been so for many long ages 
of darkness, — ages of ignorance, and superstition, and sin. 
To this huge system, the great facts and the simple and 
sublime doctrines of Revelation, too deep for the discoveries 
of natural reason, had to be opposed. With the Bible in 
hand and a sound reason at command, aided by the mighty 
power of the Holy Grhost, it devolved upon the Christian 
Philosopher to sustain the conflict for the interests of souls, 
a<id of Christ's kingdom. Satan was unequal to the con- 
test ; paganism fell, and Christianity triumphed. 

The great enemy next entered the Christian camp. Un- 
able to oppose paganism to Christianity, he determined to 
baptize it with Christian baptism. He endeavored to smoth- 
er the Church with idolatry, and brought in formality like a 
flood. Under the guise of piety, he set up in the Church, 
in the name of Jesus Christ, a vicar for himself, and found a 
human and formal substitute for every divine doctrine and 
for every Christian virtue. He took away from the people 
the word of Grod, and gave, in its place, the decrees of coun- 



22 * 

cils and of popes ; he destroyed the spirit and simplicity of 
Christian worship, and substituted the more imposing but 
lifeless ceremonies of man's invention in their stead. He 
seemed to have gained the victory. But the reformers, like 
good soldiers of Jesus Christ, with the word of Grod, which 
is the sword of the Spirit, burst his bands, gave him battle, 
and broke his power. True, spiritual Christianity, almost 
dead, revived and flourished. 

Satan saw himself foiled, and again resolved to marshal 
his forces from without. Free from the shackles of blind 
devotion and ignorant superstition, it was easy to run men 
into the opposite extreme of infidelity. The wily skeptic 
and bold blasphemer thought to reason or shame religion 
from the earth. The Grod of retributive justice was mocked. 
His word a forgery ; His ministers deceivers ; and His peo- 
ple hypocrites. Revelation was a dream, and reason was 
Grod. Christian logicians, mighty men of Grod, and mighty 
in the Scriptures, joined issue, and the enemy was defeated. 
Infidelity ran mad, and .Christianity prevailed. 

But the arch enemy, though cast down, was not destroyed. 
His next stratagem was a master-stroke. In the dark ages, 
paganism had served his purpose well : in an age of ligrri, 
he saw the need of something more subtile. Paganism had 
fallen when opposed to the Church, but had well nigh pre- 
vailed, when embraced in her bosom ; so infidelity, though 
defeated without, yet when intrenched within her pale, 
might prove her ruin. He baptized paganism then ; now 
he resolves to baptize infidelity. The great agents by whom 
he would vex and destroy the church, are infidel theologians 
and commentators on the Scriptures. In the former case he 
took away the Word of Grod : now he would mangle and 
pervert it. The worst enemies of the truth and of the 



23 

church, are professed friends within her own pale ; — theo- 
logical professors and preachers, at heart infidels, doing what 
they can to undermine the foundations of faith, — to unsettle 
the canon of Scripture and the interpretation thereof. The 
critical interpreter of the Scriptures, therefore, under the 
great Head of the Church, who has always given the vie- 
tory, must sustain the brunt of 4kis present conflict. 

Called to take part in this institution, in the very respon- 
sible work of instructing in the Word of Grod those who are 
themselves to be teachers in the Church ; with that word 
before me as my daily text-book, and the end of my labors 
to ascertain what holy men of old wrote as they were 
moved by the Holy Grhost, and what the Spirit of Christ, 
which was in them, did signify by what they wrote, — I 
have thought these remarks not inappropriate, as showing 
that I would desire . to magnify my office. And however 
the sense of my own deficiency may thereby press the more 
heavily upon me, I have deemed it not unsuitable to the 
occasion, to discuss briefly (as the time demands) the proper 
qualifications of the critical interpreter of the Sacred 
Scriptures. In pursuance of this subject, — 

I. The first qualification which I shall mention is, that he 
have a thorough conviction that the Scriptures are indeed 
the Word of God: in other words, that he be a firm believer 
in the plenary inspiration of the Sacred Scriptures. 

By this I do not mean that it is to be maintained that 
every word of the text is now just what it was, as the text 
came from the hands of inspired prophets and apostles ; but 
that the text, as it came from them originally, contained the 
very matter, and in the very words which God designed to 
constitute the Revelation, and rule of our faith and duty. 
We may, indeed, admit different kinds or degrees of in- 



24 

spiration ; but, impossible as it is to determine, in any par- 
ticular case, what degree of supernatural aid and control 
may have been needed to lead the writer to record just 
what he did, and in the very words that he did, and to guard 
him against all error, either of doctrine or of fact, we must 
hold firmly to the result that, in every case, such superna- 
tural aid and control was vouchsafed, as was requisite to 
secure against error, and to make the Revelation, both as to 
matter and form, just what Grod designed it to be ; and that, 
since its completion, no such corruption has crept into the 
text, as to invalidate its claim to be an authentic and, of 
course, authoritative revelation of Grod's will to man. 

We know, indeed, that since the sacred Scriptures were 
written, through the unavoidable casualties of transmission 
by frequent transcription, manifold trifling variations and dis- 
crepancies are to be found in the documents which furnish us 
the text. But, making full allowance for these, no man ac- 
quainted with the subject will, at this day, dare affirm, that 
the text has by this means so far lost its original purity as to 
invalidate, in the slightest degree, the authority which orig- 
inally pertained to its teachings. To question the original 
integrity of the text, would be to suppose that Grod would 
give to man a rule of faith and practice, originally imperfect 
and faulty ; that here there was a departure from what was 
true in regard to all else that came from his hands, — " Be- 
hold it was very good !" It is, indeed, sometimes said, that 
since God has not seen fit, by a perpetual miracle, to preserve 
the original text free from all corruption, accidental or de- 
signed, we cannot assert, that in tki* original composition he 
preserved the writers of the sacred Scriptures absolutely free 
from all error. But, to say nothing of the claims of the sa- 
cred writers themselves, it violates our natural ideas of the 



25 

perfections of Grod to say, that he would inspire men at all to 
write a revelation, and yet leave them liable to write down 
errors or untruths Jbr our instruction. It is consistent with 
the perfections of Grod to form the fair fabric of the world, 
and create perfect moral creatures to occupy and enjoy it ; 
and yet, to allow these rational and moral creatures to sin, 
and incapacitate themselves for such occupation and enjoy- 
ment. But it would be utterly inconsistent with his perfec- 
tions, to create a world originally marred with deformities 
and disorders, and still more to people it with rational and 
moral creatures, corrupt and perverted in their rational and 
moral natures. If Grod create a moral being at all, he must, 
by the very necessity or law of his own holy, wise, and be- 
neficent character, create him a holy and happy being, free 
from all taint or corruption, perfect in his kind. And so in 
regard to a revelation. He may devolve on man the respon- 
sibility of its preservation, or he may withhold one altogether. 
But if, in divine compassion, he condescend to give one to 
man for his instruction and guidance, he must give him one 
comporting, in all respects, with the perfections of its glorious 
Author, and adapted to meet the wants, and command the 
confidence, of him for whom it was intended. 

These conditions are by no means fulfilled, if we hold 
merely to the substance of the Scriptures as inspired of Grod, 
while we admit that the words, either through lack of orig- 
inal inspiration, or through careless and irreverent transmis- 
sion, are without authority. The substance of the Scriptures 
is contained in their words ; except by the latter we had not 
known the former ; and- we receive the substance because we 
believe the words which contain it came from God. Destroy 
reverence for the authority of the text, and you soon destroy 
all. due regard for the authority of the matter. Admit that 



26 

the text was originally mixed with error ; that the writers 
were sometimes so far left to themselves that they recorded 
what was not true ; or that, since the Scriptures were written, 
corruption has come in to such an extent as to affect the doc- 
trines and duties inculcated, or to invalidate the proper integ- 
rity of the text ; and we not only admit a derogation from the 
Scriptures, which is incapable of proof, and opposed by many 
valid arguments, but we at once allow a liberty which man 
has never yet known how to use. Where inspiration stands, 
and where inspiration fails ; in other words, where we have 
the teaching of God, and* ivhere the teaching of man ; or, 
stronger still, where we have truth, and where we have false 
hood, we can have no certain means of ascertaining. Every 
man must be allowed to separate for himself ; and the pre- 
vailing rule will be, to receive that as from Grod which is 
agreeable to human philosophy and caprice, and to reject all 
which conflicts with them. Nothing short of inspiration itself 
could make the proper separation. 

It may not be said that, inasmuch as the text, as we now 
have it, is, by admission, in manifold, though generally ex- 
ceedingly trivial instances, corrupt, therefore the very liberty 
which we fear to allow has to be continually exercised. 
There is a wide difference between the stand-point of the 
mind which holds, in any particular case of various readings, 
the surrounding text to be all firm, and, from amongst the 
various readings, endeavors to select that which, like it, pro- 
ceeded from the pen of inspiration, and that of the mind 
which is altogether at sea as to the metes and bounds of sur- 
rounding inspiration, and which feels at liberty to question 
the inspiration of the whole. In the one case, we are endeav- 
oring to restore to inspiration what the want of it has lost or 
taken away ; in the other, we question whether there be any 



. 27 

inspiration, and, if there be, where it is. In the one case, we 
hold to the body, and seek to restore a lost or wounded mem- 
ber, however small ; in the other, we not only question which 
is the proper member, but we doubt if there be any body 
at all. 

The belief of the plenary inspiration of the Scriptures, in 
the sense which I have defined, is necessary, to inspire the 
interpreter with a proper regard for the word of (rod as such ; 
to restrain him from handling it deceitfully, or with presump- 
tion and lightness ; to stimulate to due diligence and care, 
and dependence on Grod in eliciting the true meaning of its 
words ; and to induce a ready submission to its authoritative 
teachings. 

On this important subject, the history of Biblical interpre- 
tation in modern Grermany furnishes most instructive lessons. 
Here we have the disastrous effects of the rejection of the 
plenary inspiration of the Scriptures exhibited on a scale 
which is appalling to the devout mind. We know, indeed, 
that the great apostacy in Grermany began in the heart. The 
long barren discussions which succeeded the reformation ter- 
minated, in the eighteenth century, in the utter prostration of 
vital piety. But the first outward demonstrations were 
against the authority of the sacred Scriptures, against the 
canon and the text. The discussions of the previous century 
had disclosed the fact, that the Scripture text had been sub- 
jected to the same casualties of transmission as the text of 
other books. But when further investigation had demon- 
strated that the changes which had crept in from this source 
could never invalidate its claims as an authentic text, it only 
remained to question the authority of its teachings ; and this 
could be done only by denying its plenary inspiration. This 
done, and philosophy had full sweep, and boldly asserted her 



28 

assumed prerogatives. Miracles and prophecies were pro- 
nounced to be impossible things ; and of course full liberty- 
was felt to explain away the account of them in the Scrip- 
tures. The former were put on the same level as G-recian 
and Roman myths ; the latter were mere shrewd conjectures 
of near events, or histories post eventum, or dim and uncertain 
visions of the remote future. The wildest and most forced 
interpretations were put upon words, in order to sustain fore- 
gone conclusions of philosophy and science, falsely so called : 
and when the plain grammatical interpretation forced out the 
true meaning, that meaning ceased to be binding, because 
not inspired of God, and not equal to the present advanced 
state of human thought and human inquiry. 

It need scarcely be added, that the ground occupied by 
such interpreters is essentially infidel. From them we are 
not to expect fair dealing with the text, or reverential expo- 
sitions of its meaning. And yet it seems not to be understood 
by some, that there is no firm middle ground between the 
opinions of those who regard the very words of the Scriptures 
as. originally sanctioned, were not dictated by the Spirit, and 
consequently free from all errors, and of those who regard 
the whole as of human origin, and consequently from the be 
ginning more or less mixed with error. The Bible is of God 
or of man ; all of Grod, or all of man ; consequently all author 
itative as from Grod, or none demonstrably so. A mixed rev 
elation (so to call it) would, as we have already intimated 
require another purely divine one to enable us to determine 
what in the former was from Grod, and what from man. 

II. The next essential qualification of the interpreter of the 
sacred Scriptures which I shall mention is, that he be truly 
enlightened and regenerated by the Spirit which gave them. 

The necessity for this qualification lies in the deep-rooted 



29 

depravity of the human heart, and its consequent natural in- 
sensibility and aversion to the spiritual truths of the sacred 
Scriptures. All history testifies to this enmity of the heart 
to the truth of Grod. Unsanctified minds seldom treat of the 
word of Grod, except to pervert or to ridicule it. " The nat- 
ural man," say the Scriptures themselves, " receive th not 
the things of the Spirit of (xod, for they are foolishness unto 
him ; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually 
discerned." 

It is not to be expected, or believed, that a man, who is 
prejudiced at heart against any system of truths, shall be 
able fully to understand them, or fairly to expound them. 
Still less can this be expected in the present case, where the 
truths are of such a character as to aim directly at the cor- 
rection of the whole man. Pride of intellect, as well as of 
heart, must be subdued ; wicked passions must be restrained 
and mortified ; and the whole current of feeling, and thought, 
and action run in a direction which has no congeniality with 
the selfish and carnal desires of the natural heart. Where 
such is the conflict between the interpreter and the sacred 
writings which he undertakes to expound, there must often 
be gross misconceptions, as well as gross perversions, of their 
meaning. The temptations to this may even be all the 
stronger, according to the respect which the interpreter has 
for the binding authority of the Scriptures. The necessity of 
an adjustment of the conflict is felt to be the more urgent ; 
and it is far easier for corrupt and blinded man to relinquish 
and pervert the truth, than it is for him to give up his own 
views, and principles, and practices. In such a case, error 
has greatly the advantage over the truth. The whole strength 
of our natural opposition to the truth is enlisted on its side ; 
and precisely because the Scriptures are acknowledged to be 



30. 

an authoritative rule, the desire is felt so to expound the rule 
as to make it easy and acceptable to unhumbled reason and 
unsanctified affections. Where lower views are entertained of 
the binding authority of the Scriptures, the interpreter may 
feel no such strong temptation wilfully to pervert their mean- 
ing. He may feel free to exhibit the doctrines, and duties, 
and facts of the Scriptures, and yet be equally free to main- 
tain his own views and practices. Still, in either N case, the 
interpreter's subjective incapacity for the truth, his natural 
want of spiritual apprehension of it as light and life to the 
soul, must often exclude correct and luminous views, and 
spread darkness over the sacred page. 

The exposition of the Scriptures, therefore, is safe and edi- 
fying only in the hands of him who, to a profound reverence 
for their divine authority, unites a heart and understanding 
in unison, by virtue of. the operations of the Spirit, with the 
spiritual truths which they inculcate. In him only is found the 
spiritual discernment and love for the truth which places the 
mind in the proper attitude for the right apprehension and 
exhibition of it. 

Here again Germany furnishes instructive lessons for our 
admonition. It was the decline of piety, as we have already 
stated, which prepared the way for those loose views of the 
authority of the sacred Scriptures which have, in that coun- 
try, been so destructive of a correct and reverential treatment 

» 
of them. The men there, and their followers in other coun- 
tries, who deny the possibility of miracles and prophecies, and 
who treat the word of Grod scarcely as they would the word 
of man, are not the men, whatever may be their private amia- 
bility and worth, who set the highest value on the power of 
inward godliness and outward piety, and who do the most to 
promote them ; and when this power of an inward life, gene- 



31 

rated by the Spirit of Grod, has taken possession of the heart, 
it has been followed generally by a more or less total renun- 
ciation of former philosophical difficulties. We have, indeed, 
in entire accordance with what we have already said, some 
quite remarkable instances of expositorial tact in minds of 
skeptical views and of doubtful piety. But even the best of 
such commentators do much to unsettle the foundations, and 
do little for the advancement, of true religion. Happily the 
course of theological controversy and scriptural exposition in 
that distracted country gives us much hope that the victory 
will ultimately decide for those who have hid the word of Grod 
most deeply in their hearts, and who bow with most reverence 
and obedience to its authoritative teachings. 

III. The third qualification, which I mention as essential 
to the critical interpreter of the Scriptures, is a thorough 
knowledge of the original languages in which they are 
written, as well as a good knowledge, at least, of their 
cognates. 

It is well known that the original languages of the Scrip- 
tures are the Hebrew, Chaldee, and Greek ; and that these 
are properly now all dead languages. The immediate cog- 
nates of these, a knowledge of which may be regarded as in- 
dispensable to the accomplished interpreter of the Scriptures, 
are Arabic, Syriac, and Ethiopic for the first two, and the 
Latin for the last. 

That a thorough knowledge of the original languages of 
the sacred Scriptures is absolutely necessary to the interpre- 
ter, will hardly be denied at the present day, by any one who 
- is competent to judge. All allow that our best translations 
are imperfect ; and were these as perfect as they could be 
made, it would, in a multitude of cases, be impossible for the 
student of these merely to investigate the possible interpreta- 



32 

tions of the original, or to ascertain the full meaning of the 
true one. The truth is, that whilst the great doctrines and 
duties taught in the Scriptures are taught in a variety of 
form and connection, which ought to leave no dispute as to 
what they are ; yet, in respect to the doctrines, at least, sav- 
ing a few — happily the most fundamental — there is, amongst 
Christian interpreters and theologians, a wide diversity ; and 
in the minuter details of interpretation, particularly, there is 
a diversity, and often a contrariety, which is to be ascribed, 
not merely to dogmatic prejudices and to deficient knowledge 
in general, but especially to a defective knowledge of the orig- 
inal languages of the Scriptures. Whoever considers the 
ease and certainty with which we understand those who speak 
and write our own vernacular tongue, must be sensible of 
what we lose in the interpretation of the Scriptures, by the 
want of a thorough acquaintance with the languages in which 
they are written. We make full allowance for the influence 
of dogmatic prejudices, where these may operate, for the em- 
barrassments of an imperfect knowledge of antiquity generally, 
and for the imperfection and ambiguity of language, even, 
when best known and correctly written : and yet we hesitate 
not to say, that the diversities that we meet with in the minu- 
tiae of interpretation are such and so numerous, as to prove 
incontestibly that the prolific source from which they spring 
is the want of a thorough acquaintance with the original lan- 
guages themselve *; such an acquaintance as those who thought 
and spake in them possessed. It is the want of easy famil- 
iarity with the original language of the Scriptures, indeed, 
which has always constituted the greatest difficulty in the 
way of interpreters, and has most powerfully tempted to the 
easier and more seductive methods of allegorizing, so common 



33 

with the fathers, and catenating and compiling, so much 
practised by their successors down to the present day. 

In order to this thorough acquaintance with the original 
languages of the Scriptures, so indispensable, it is all-impor- 
tant to the interpreter, that he be well acquainted with their 
nearer cognates. In these he finds the usage which so often 
fails him, by reason of insufficient remains, in the case of 
the Hebrew especially ; and the most useful helps for the 
interpretation of both the Old Testament and the New. It 
is only by the diligent study of all these, both the original 
and the cognate languages of the Scriptures, that the in- 
terpreter can so appropriate and appreciate the forms of 
thought, the idiom, force, and spirit of the sacred writers, 
as to feel independent and at home in his work. I may be 
allowed to introduce here, the testimony of a veteran in 
oriental literature, taken from the preface of the latest 
edition of his famous Hebrew Grammar. " There are two 
ways," says he " to pursue the Hebrew. The one is to 
consult the Hebrew Grammars and Lexicons that are at 
hand ; by way of supererogation to spell a little Arabic and 
Syriac ; to take in hand some other helps that lie in a couple 
of bye- ways ; to compare a half or a whole dozen of com- 
mentaries ; and then believe that one understands Hebrew, 
and can, as a learned man, expose the true sense of the Old 
Testament. This attractive way have thousands marched, 
and never will it cease to be the most admired ; but upon 
what sandbanks and cliffs it conducts, we should at last 
universally perceive. The other is first to lay the Hebrew 
entirely aside, and, with true toil and devotion, appropriate a 
hundred talents, in regions which lie quite far from the Old 
Testament, and which, in Germany, yield no bread ; for ex- 
ample, become in all Shemitic literature first perfectly at 
3 



34 

home, and then perhaps return again to the old Hebrew, in 
order to recall it for ourselves, piece by piece, from death to 
life, and so apprehend what it really says to us and teaches 
us." This extract, certainly savors of Germany ; more 
than is here meant is indispensable to the devout and suc- 
cessful interpreter : but what piety and a sacred regard for 
the authority of the text can do and will do without the 
knowledge of the original languages of the Scriptures, we 
may learn from the almost universal allegorizing of the 
fathers and dogmatism of the dark ages, and from the many 
commentators of later times, who have done little more than 
collect and digest the statements and criticisms of others 
who have preceded them, and sometimes have done this in a 
very superficial and unscholarlike way. 

The qualification of which I am speaking is so obvious 
and so generally admitted, that I deem it unnecessary to 
enlarge. I must add, however, before dismissing it, that the 
church has need at the present day of Scripture interpreters, 
who possess this knowledge of the original languages, and of 
the helps to the right understanding of them, in a very high 
degree. Never was this department of sacred literature 
more sedulously and more successfully cultivated ; and 
never were the fruits of lingual investigations applied with 
more zeal to the unsettling of the canon and perverting the 
meaning of the Scriptures. Their authority is attacked with 
an array of erudition and learned authority, that must con- 
found the simple ; and to be maintained, they call for men 
of at least equal and less sophisticated lore. 

IY. But not only is a thorough knowledge of the original and 
cognate languages of the Scriptures necessary to the inter- 
preter ; he has need, in the fourth place, of a very extensive 
and often minute acquaintance with various collateral 
knowledge. 



35 

There is no department of real knowledge that does not 
help to the better understanding and illustration of the 
Scriptures. There are expressions in them which have for 
ages been misunderstood, or correctly apprehended only since 
the clear discoveries of modern science. It is, to give a sim- 
ple example, familiar to every reader of the Scriptures that 
the rising and setting of the sun, so frequently mentioned in 
them, are, as in our own language, only a conformity to the 
ordinary usages of language, to express an ordinary phe- 
nomenon as it appears in nature, without teaching anything 
as to the real manner of its occurrence, although they may 
at first have originated in conceptions of a mode conformed 
to the appearance. 

But far more important than all modern science, strictly 
so called, to the right interpretation of the Scriptures, is a 
good knowledge of history and an intimate and correct 
knowledge of antiquity. The Scriptures contain a long 
succession of revelations and records, made originally for 
the benefit of a particular chosen people, but intended ul- 
timately for the benefit of all the nations of the earth. They 
contain throughout innumerable allusions to the geograph- 
ical, historical, political, social, moral, philosophical, and 
religious relations of the chosen people, and the country 
which they inhabited, as well as of all the surrounding 
nations and countries with which they were in various ways 
connected. Here a wide field is thrown open for the biblical 
student ; and many rich results have been afforded by the 
diligent researches of modern inquirers. The more our 
knowledge advances of Jewish, Roman, Grecian, Egyp- 
tian, — indeed, ancient and oriental antiquities generalty, the 
more thoroughly are the Scriptures understood in all their 
varied and multiplied allusions ; and their coincidence with 



36 

ancient facts and relations, thus ascertained from other 
sources, constitutes an increasingly powerful and conclusive 
argument for their genuineness and authenticity. Difficulties, 
indeed, which, in some cases, seemed to be glaring dis- 
crepancies, and constituted for the infidel strong objections 
to the credibility, and of course to the genuineness and in- 
spiration of the Scriptures, or of particular parts thereof, 
have been completely solved, and added to the general mass 
of archaeological coincidences which serve so triumphantly to 
maintain and verify the inspired record. 

We are far from believing that this source of knowledge for 
the confirmation and better understanding of the Scriptures 
is completely exhausted. We believe, on the contrary, that 
the most valuable results are to flow from the persevering and 
thorough investigation of the original languages of the Scrip- 
tures, and the antiquities with which they stand connected. 
The facilities and inducements to such investigations were 
never greater than at the present time, nor the promise 
greater to religion and science. 

The Bible challenges investigation. It professes to give 
knowledge which shall make men wise unto salvation, and 
demands to be studied and understood. It courts the light, 
and never avoids it. It stimulates to mental activity, and 
never stifles lawful inquiry. It shines brightest in the midst 
of surrounding light, and has always gained by every advance 
in real knowledge. It claims science as its handmaid, and 
wages eternal war upon all darkness in the soul. We doubt 
not that, in the end, all real knowledge and all true science 
will pay it due homage and render it good service. It is a 
striking and significant fact, that while the boasted theories 
and alleged discoveries of modern science are boldly set up as 
conflicting with the Scriptures, the facts of antiquity that are 



37 

almost daily brought to light are clearly demonstrating their 
truth and illustrating their meaning. It is precisely the new- 
est of the sciences which, like untutored children, show the 
most undevout hostility to the Scriptures ; the more established 
our knowledge, the more it accords with and confirms them. 
The whole past history of the progress of true science author- 
izes the unwavering belief, that the more thorough and accu- 
rate our knowledge is of all things, ancient and modern, the 
more clearly will the truth of the sacred Scriptures appear, 
and the more accurately and thoroughly will they be under- 
stood and appreciated. At a day like this, when infidels in 
disguise are doing all to subvert and pervert the Scriptures? 
the critical interpreter may not neglect any of their defences, 
but should give diligent heed to them all. 

V. The next requisite to the interpreter of the sacred Scrip- 
tures which I shall mention is, a thorough and comprehensive 
acquaintance with the Scriptures themselves. 

Scripture truths are not given systematically. They were 
not written by one man in one age, but by many men during 
a long succession of ages. The facts, doctrines, and duties 
which they contain are taught in almost every variety of form 
and connection. But the writers, however diverse or widely sep- 
arated in time and space, were animated and directed by one 
and the same unerring Spirit. They were the inspired religious 
teachers and rulers of the ages in which they lived, who spake 
as they were moved by the Holy Grhost, and taught the truth 
in the measure and forms in which it was communicated to 
them. The revelation at any given period of its progress, 
though not yet finished, possessed a certain completeness. 
At every period it might be said, " The law of the Lord is 
perfect, converting (or restoring) the soul." The seeds of the 
whole system, so to speak, were there ; the first and great 



38 

germs of saving truth were clearly discernible ; and in every 
age the humble believer knew enough for the life of his soul . 
The word as it then existed was suited to his wants. The 
very first part, that which Moses wrote, contained the history 
of facts which were fundamental in their character, and above 
all the philosophy of the ancients ; and, besides the moral 
law, numerous significant types which shadowed forth good 
things to come, and many exceeding great and precious prom- 
ises and prophecies, which addressed themselves to the faith, 
and attracted the study and meditation, of all the devout 
worshippers of Jehovah. It was precisely because this per- 
fection characterized the Scriptures at every period, that, far 
up on the stream of revelation, we hear their praises chanted 
in the most enraptured strains : and Old Testament saints, in 
respect to zeal and love for the word of (rod, lose nothing by 
comparison with the New. 

It follows from these remarks that the Scriptures, as we 
have them, constitute a complete and finished whole ; and 
that every part, as it derives light from all the remaining 
parts, in its turn sheds light upon them. There is through- 
out a harmony and unity of design which can only be dis- 
cerned and felt by him who thoroughly studies the whole ; 
which unity and harmony undiscerned and unfelt by the 
interpreter, he can scarcely fail not only to misunderstand, 
but to do violence to, holy writ. What sad havoc has been 
made, in modern Germany, of the Old Testament types and 
prophecies, by severing the two grand divisions of the Scrip- 
tures, and interpreting them separately, as though they were 
not indited and composed by one and the same Spirit, is 
known to all who have attended at all to the course of scrip- 
ture interpretation. Like disastrous results attend the sepa- 
ration of one book from another, and interpreting each part as 



39 



though it sustained no common relation to all the rest. This 
mischievous error is most injurious in the hands of those who, 
like too many interpreters of the present day, entertain low 
views of the inspiration of the sacred writers. To them, in- 
deed, it ought to be confined. Those who regard the Scrip- 
tures as proceeding from men who spake as they were moved 
by the Holy Grhost, must, if they will be consistent, interpret 
every part of the whole volume by the light of all the 
rest. So we interpret the product of any other, though it be 
but a man's spirit : how much more, when we believe that we 
are interpreting words given or sanctioned by the infallible 
Spirit of (rod, the spirit of light and the spirit of truth ? 

The truth is, that the Old and New Testaments are the 
counterparts and complements of each other. We may com- 
pare them to the morning dawn and to the splendor of mid- 
day. The morning dawns and the mid-day shines, only be- 
cause of the approach and the presence of the great monarch 
of light. And as we would catch his earliest rays, if we 
would bear the heat and brightness of his meridian glory ; so 
if we would fully comprehend the sublime and saving light of 
the New Testament, we should come to it through the ob- 
scure^dawn of the Old. Either shines at all only because 
of the approach or the presence of the great Sun of Righteous- 
ness. The light which they shed is one and the same, only 
differing in degree. They come from the same source, and 
they direct to. the same end. It is ever the same Spirit 
speaking in them; and whether the subject-matter be history, 
or type, or precept, or promise, or prophecy, whatever it be., 
the great object of the Spirit speaking in the Old Testament 
is, to meet the spiritual necessities of that generation of the 
covenant people of Grod, and chiefly by pointing them to, and 
preparing them for, the coming and redemption of the great 



40 

Son of Grod and man, so clearly set forth in the New Testa- 
ment. The necessities of G-od's people in every age are essen- 
tially the same ; the great remedial system the same ; the ex- 
perience of his people and the principles of his providential 
dealings with them the same. Where such is the unity of 
design and harmony in the subject-matter of revelation, it 
must needs be that all the parts stand intimately and mu- 
tually related, and confirm and illustrate one another. He 
best understands the Old Testament, who has learned the 
New aright ; and he best interprets the New, who has most 
thoroughly studied the institutions and weighed the very ex- 
pressions of the Old. So true is this, that we may say, had 
the New Testament never existed, the Old had remained an 
unintelligible enigma ; and had the Old Testament never 
existed, the world had scarcely furnished the language that 
could have accurately and certainly conveyed the glorious 
revelations of the New. The interpreter therefore needs not 
only an acquaintance with the general scope of the sacred 
volume, but a minute acquaintance with the whole Scrip- 
tures ; so that in the consideration of any passage or phrase 
that needs elucidation, he may be able at once to 1 collect the 
light that streams from various other parts of the harmo- 
nious whole. 

VI. The last qualification of the interpreter of the sacred 
Scriptures which I shall mention, is, that he possess correct 
principles of interpretation, and have the skill and judg- 
ment to apply them. 

The proper object of all language is to express the ope- 
rations of the mind. Whether used by God or man, it is 
intended to communicate to others his thoughts and feel- 
ings and will ; and of course is properly designed to be 
understood. For this end it is obviously necessary, that, as 



4i 

far as possible, it be used in the ordinary acceptation of its 
words and phrases. No system of aoooptation therefore can, 
in general, be just, which does not aim to get at the mean- 
ing which the words fairly and legitimately convey, when 
construed according to the ordinary usages of language. 

These general remarks apply in full force to the Scriptures. 
They are professedly a revelation of the will of Grod to man. 
As such, they were intended not only for the learned, but 
for the common people. They demand no recondite system 
of rules, known only to the initiated, in order to be under- 
stood ; their object is to make men, learned and unlearned, 
wise unto salvation, by communicating the saving truths of 
Grod, so that all who will may understand. For the accom- 
plishment of this object, they must conform to the ordi- 
nary and legitimate usages of language. A revelation in unin- 
telligible language is, in this regard, no revelation at all ; and 
language is never surer to be misunderstood, or not understood 
at all, than when it is employed contrary to its established 
meaning and laws. Such a revelation, to be understood, 
must carefully reveal the method of its right interpretation. 

The Scriptures contain for themselves no such peculiar or 
special method of interpretation. They demand to be 
searched ; but by the help of no special light, save that of 
the Grreat Spirit of truth. They do, indeed, teach us that 
there are types, and parables, and prophecies, and, as I be- 
lieve, cases of double sense ; but we contend, that here there 
is no violation of the nature or the legitimate use of lan- 
guage, so long as we follow the sure guidance of Revelation 
itself, and proceed not arbitrarily in the interpretation. We 
have already contended that the Scriptures are a complete 
whole, and that one part is to be interpreted by the help of 
the rest ; this common-sense rule we apply in the interpreta- 



42 

tion of all other instruments. What we further contend for 
here is, that allowing whatever may be fairly due to the 
nature of inspiration, and to the nature of the subject of the 
revelation, we must adhere to the principle, that the lan- 
guage employed teaches us, respecting that subject, whether 
past, present, or future, whether common or miraculous, 
above us or below us, and whether in figurative, typical, 
parabolic, or allegorical form, what, when interpreted by the 
ordinary laws and usages of language, it naturally and 
plainly means. It is in this sense that I would understand 
the famous maxim of the judicious Hooker : — " I hold for a 
most infallible rule in expositions of sacred Scriptures, that, 
where a literal construction will stand, the furthest from the 
letter is commonly the worst." 

What is commonly known, therefore, as the historico- 
grammatical system of interpretation is, we believe, the only 
just system, always allowing what the very nature of a 
revelation from God and the subject of which it speaks may 
fairly demand. In this last qualification, we only allow 
what, in strict accordance with the true nature of lan- 
guage, is allowed to all writings, — that they be interpreted 
according to themselves and according to the nature of the 
subjects of which they treat. 

Every period of the church has furnished abundant illus- 
trations of the prime importance of the possession of correct 
principles of interpretation, by those who undertake to ex- 
pound the Scriptures. Before the reformation, first the al- 
legorical, and then the dogmatical, prevailed. Since that 
period, a purer and more fruitful method of investigation 
has been vigorously prosecuted ; but often upon principles 
contrary to all sound and rational criticism, however pre- 
tending to both characteristics, and, of course, derogatory to 



43 

the true dignity of the Scriptures as a revelation from Grod, 
and subversive of their true meaning. It is a common fault 
of all these systems, that they exalt the human and depress 
the divine. The dogmas of the church, the prolific fancies 
of exuberant minds, the prejudgments of human reason, 
the dicta of human philosophy, the analogies of false re- 
ligions and heathen mythologies, and the pretensions of 
modern science, have all prevailed to pervert the Scriptures, 
and to add to and subtract from them. It is thus, that 
even in protestant churches, since the reformation, we have 
had interpreters, who could expound the sacred Scriptures, 
manifestly controlled by the church symbols which they had 
embraced ; who could see in the histories and prophecies of 
the Scriptures types and administrations of all the great po- 
litical and ecclesiastical events of subsequent times ; who could 
treat as trivial all that was not. in the judgment of reason, 
directly conducive to the moral amendment of mankind ; who 
could add to the sacred narratives, or take from them, so 
much as was necessary to make them credible to their phi- 
losophy or conformable with it ; who could explain the doc- 
trines of Christ and His Apostles as mere accommodations 
to Jewish prejudices and the opinions of the age in which 
they lived ; who could find in all that was miraculous and 
prophetical absolute impossibilities, except so far as sheer 
jugglery or shrewd conjecture might attain ; who could 
resolve plain and sober history into sublime poetical and my- 
thical epics ; in fine, who could everywhere subject the 
supra-natural to the natural or the rational, thus reducing 
the whole of Revelation and of religion into the powerless 
abstractions of deism and pantheism : and where this could 
not be done, could groundlessly impugn the integrity of the 
text, or flatly deny the truth of the record. 



44 

These astounding results we ascribe in part to the systems 
of interpretation adopted, because, though in general they have 
proceeded from the subjective views and feelings of their 
authors, they have been adopted by acknowledged teachers 
of theology and expounders of the Scriptures in different 
churches and universities of the world, but especially of 
Germany, and have been the guiding principles in the ap- 
plication of the critical apparatus employed to explain away 
what was offensive and to elicit what was desired. It is 
gratifying to know, that there is a gradual return from these 
monstrous excesses to more sober and correct views of the 
office of the interpreter of the sacred Scriptures. Whilst 
some still run mad in their license, others, who have done 
large havoc to the Scriptures, have had their eyes opened in 
a measure to the reckless and ruinous results of their prin- 
ciples ; and the necessity is beginning to be felt of coming 
back to a devout application of those common-sense princi- 
ples of interpretation, which men ordinarly employ to ascer- 
tain the meaning of written language. Where these have 
been combined with learning and tact at exposition, we have 
had valuable contributions to the right interpretation of the 
Scriptures, even from men whose philosophic views allowed 
them to reject or oppose the doctrines which they inculcate. 

Thus have I endeavored briefly, as the time made neces- 
sary, to present the views which I hold of the qualifications 
requisite to the fully accomplished interpreter of the Scrip- 
tures. I need not say that I make no pretensions to the 
possession of them in any just measure as I ought ; rather 
would I show what I would desire to attain unto. The time 
is fully come when the church of Christ ftas need of men in 
this department, who thoroughly understand their business. 
The great enemy was never wider awake nor harder at work. 



45 

Vast erudition is arrayed against her very foundations and 
surest bulwarks. The great champions of damning delu- 
sions at the present day are in the church, and hold high 
places and occupy strong holds. Error has on its side all 
the corruptions of- man and all the powers of hell. Already 
we hear, from different quarters, some stifled sounds of jubi- 
lation. But on the side of truth is He that is greater than 
all. The spirit of the Lord has set up his standard against 
them ; and if we will not be recreant to His cause, we will 
prepare ourselves for the conflict. The heat of the battle 
has called forth even in G-ermany noble champions for the 
truth, who contend with mighty skill for the faith of the 
saints. We have already said that there we see some signs 
of giving way in the ranks of the enemy. America, the 
refuge of all nations and the protector of all creeds, may yet 
be the scene of a heavier conflict. The truth will doubtless 
prevail. The time will come when philosophy and science 
shall act their parts as the handmaids of religion, and not her 
mistresses. But let it be remembered, that her triumphs will 
not be achieved by the power of ignorance and supineness. 



SUMMARY OF STUDIES 



IN 



UNION THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY. 



Fl RST YEAR. 

Hebrew Language. 

Exegesis — Matthew with Harmony ; Acts. 

Interpretation. 

Biblical Antiquities. 

Critical Introduction. 

Evidences of Natural and Revealed Religion. 

Biblical History. 

Mental and Moral Science. 

Composition and delivery of Sermons commenced. 

SECOND YEAR. 

Exegetical Study of the Hebrew and Grreek Scriptures. 

Didactic Theology. 

Ecclesiastical History. 

The Chaldee Language. 

Composition and delivery of Sermons continued. 

THI RD YEAR. 

Exegetical Study of the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures 

continued. 
Didactic Theology continued. 
Polemic Theology. 



. 47 

Pastoral Theology. 

Ecclesiastical History. 

Church Government. 

Composition and delivery of Sermons. 
This course, it .will be seen, is very full, and is strictly ad- 
hered to. In addition, Essays and Lectures are required of 
the Students during the whole course, as often as is judged 
expedient by the Professors. 



GENERAL INFORMATION. 

The situation of the Union Theological Seminary is eligible 
and exceedingly healthful, one mile from Prince Edward Court 
House, Va., and in the immediate vicinity of Hampden Sid- 
ney College. 

Every person applying for admission into this Seminary, 
must produce satisfactory testimonials that he possesses good 
natural talents, and is of a prudent and discreet deportment ; 
that he is in full communion with some regular church ; and 
he shall also furnish to the Faculty satisfactory evidence of 
his proficiency in such branches of literature as are required 
of candidates by the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church ; 
or, wanting these, he must submit to an examination on them 
by the Faculty. 

Students bringing full certificates from their Presbyteries, 
will be considered as possessed of all necessary testimonials. 

Students coming from other Theological Seminaries, are 
required to present testimonials of good standing and regular 
dismission, before they can be received. 



48 



The proper time for entering the Seminary is at the com- 
mencement of the Seminary year, which is ten weeks after 
the second Tuesday in June. It is highly important that 
Students should be present at the opening of the session. 

The Library contains above 4,000 volumes, which are more 
than ordinarily well selected, and many of them very rare 
and valuable. The Students have the use of this Library, 
free of expense, and also access to the Libraries of Hampden 
Sidney College ; and can, on application to the Professors, 
have the privilege of attending the Lectures in that Institu- 
tion. 

There is no charge for tuition or room-rent ; but each Stu- 
dent pays $5 per annum to defray the contingent expenses of 
the Institution. The rooms are fully and comfortably fur- 
nished . 

The expense of Board is $8 per month. Opportunities may 
almost always be found by which a student may defray the 
expenses of his board by teaching an hour or two daily. 
Wood is obtained for $2 25 per cord. Washing 87 1-2 per 
month. 

VACATIONS. 

The principal vacation commences on the second Tuesday 
in June, and continues ten weeks. There is a recess of two 
weeks during the session, the time of which is determined by 
the Faculty ; usually in October. 



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